Friday the 13th.........

Imus gets fired, Ludicris gets a Grammy. Amazing. I never listened to Imus or watched him. Probably something about caustic coke-heads and gum chewing turned me off.

The other night a local Monday Night Football gang that had transformed themselves into a $10,000 entry fee poker "club" was busted. A friendly, high-stakes poker game. The law caught up to them and it may well cost them all far more than the entry stake.

Funny how Georgia works.

The state owns the real gambling operation in the state called the Georgia Lotto. It is a great franchise and they apparently hate competition. Every convenience store in the state profits from the gambling habits of its citizens, some far brighter than others. Is it racist or discriminatory that the less intelligent Georgia citizens who probably can't afford throwing good money after bad buying lottery tickets support university students in paying for their educations? The rich and smart get richer.........

You have to love how the bulls keep pressing the bears. Who doesn't love these late session rallies? Don't let long-term prejudices blind you to the truth of what is happening today. The stock market tells a story every day and if we listen carefully we will greatly outperform those who claim to know what the future holds. There is an old saying "bulls make money, bears make money, pigs get slaughtered." The more accurate saying may be "flexible folks make money, stubborn folks get killed."

About 15 years ago I left the ranks of being a stockbroker and joined the ranks of a professional trader and money manager. Being a stockbroker is certainly an excellent profession that can be fulfilling and lucrative as a salesman, but until I became a full time trader I never really understood how enjoying my work could make such a huge difference in my results. Trading was the right fit for me. The main appeal of trading is the flexibility and freedom it gave me. The very nice economic rewards were a consequence of enjoying what I was doing. To wake up and look forward to what I was going to do that day made a huge difference not only in my happiness but in my net worth. Friday the 13th was always a good day for me.

Today is no exception.